{"nrhp_refnum":"93000584","name":"Belmont Abbey Historic District","other_names":[],"category":"district","location":{"address":"100 Belmont--Mt. Holly Rd. (NC 2093, E side)","address_restricted":false,"city":"Belmont","county":"Gaston County","state":"NC","lat":35.26122755850005,"lon":-81.04275332853189,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1993-07-14","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Architecture","Religion"],"significance_levels":["national"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A 37.5-acre historic district on the western edge of the Belmont Abbey and Belmont Abbey College campus in Belmont, Gaston County, North Carolina. It holds Benedictine monastery and college buildings, a Lourdes grotto, shrines and a cemetery, built mainly from 1880 to 1957.","why_significant":"The nomination argues national significance under three criteria. Criterion A covers the Abbey's role in the growth of Catholicism in the southeastern United States. Criterion B covers its links to Abbot-Bishop Leo Haid and the monk-architect Dom Michael McInerney. Criterion C covers the campus's American Benedictine architecture, a Gothic Revival variant, shown in McInerney's work.","narrative":"Belmont Abbey Historic District covers 37.5 acres on the western edge of a Benedictine monastery and college campus in Gaston County, North Carolina. Its buildings, sites and objects date from the 1880s onward and include the Abbey Cathedral, the Monastery, the College Building (now Stowe Hall), Saint Leo Hall, The Haid, the Grotto of Our Lady of Lourdes and the Abbey Cemetery. Most buildings use the American Benedictine style, a vernacular Gothic Revival in handmade red brick with tall arched windows and restrained ornament. Dom Michael McInerney, a monk who lived at the Abbey, designed many of them over a career of about six decades. The district is recognized for its part in spreading Catholicism across the Southeast. Abbot and Bishop Leo Haid led the Abbey from 1885 to 1924, and under him it founded other monasteries and schools in the region. The Abbey still houses monks and a college of about 1,000 students.","period_of_significance":null,"architect_builder":"Dom Michael McInerney (architect of many buildings); Dom Placidus Pilz, O.S.B. (laid out the original monastery section)","architectural_style":"Gothic Revival; Other: American Benedictine","criteria":["A","B","C"],"status_note":"Still used as a Benedictine monastery and a Catholic liberal arts college; buildings have been adapted for offices, classrooms, a student center and a bookstore.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:57:49.649755-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/19/7204/47720419/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_NC/93000584.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/93000584/440ed55c54-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/93000584/440ed55c54-1600.webp","licence":"Public domain","author":"Cajackson2009","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:BelmontAbbeyGrotto.JPG\" rel=\"noopener\">Cajackson2009</a>, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:BelmontAbbeyGrotto.JPG"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/47720419","wikipedia":null,"wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q124172857"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/north-carolina/gaston-county/belmont-abbey-historic-district-93000584/"}